Life: no dress rehearsal

From a communication degree to a Manhattan consultancy to CEO of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Emma Dunch has carved out a unique and exciting career in the arts. A global leader in the cultural sector, she has worked with some of the world's most talented artists, created art at the highest level, built one of North America's top tier female-owned businesses and was named one of Deloitte Australia's Outstanding 50 LGBTI leaders in 2018.

“My advice is make the road by walking. A career is a winding path. Mine's gone for 30 years, and it wasn't a straight line. Meet each new opportunity with an open mind and seek to make a positive contribution in each pursuit you have. You have to make your road in life by walking it yourself.”

Emma Dunch Bachelor of Arts (Communication)

Photo credit: Anthony Geernaert

How does one become Chief Executive Officer, Sydney Symphony Orchestra? I graduated from Charles Sturt University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in communication, and it's been a long and winding road over the last 30 years. After my degree at Charles Sturt, I went to Melbourne to pursue a degree in music and used my journalism skills to work as a music journalist to fund my further studies. I then returned to Sydney to be a publicist for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and, after some years, moved to New York City. I went there for a job with a suitcase, $20,000 and one person's phone number. I stayed in America for 20 years and built a career, moving between public relations and journalism roles and music management. I worked in cultural management and built one of the largest professional management consulting firms in the cultural sector. Based in Manhattan, my company worked across North America and was in the top one per cent of US women-owned businesses.

One of our clients was the Australia Council for the Arts, and I became reacquainted with what was happening here. Some years later, the CEO role at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra – where I had started all those years ago – was vacant and I was invited to apply. I was so proud and excited to accept the role and wanted to bring everything I learnt overseas back home and try to share my knowledge and my expertise with our cultural sector here.

Can you paint a picture of what you do as CEO of the Sydney Symphony? The Sydney Symphony Orchestra is one of the larger symphony orchestras in the world. It has a budget of almost $45 million, so there is the management of a multimillion-dollar business corporation and moving about 160 people around on a week-to-week basis. It's a highly people-focused business, and my job is to make sure that the talented artists we support have the best conditions to perform at their highest level. I think a lot about peak performance in the performing arts. It's almost like running an Olympic team because these are essentially the Olympic musicians of the performing arts. These businesses run years in advance, so I'm constantly thinking, 'What does Australia look like tomorrow, and how can we be ready? How can the whole cultural sector be ready?' How have you steered the orchestra through the pandemic? Without the talented people who work for us, the Sydney Symphony is nothing. An orchestra is an ensemble that takes 20 years to build, to recruit all the top talent from around the world and have them perform as a peak performance team. So first and foremost, we had to keep the team together. We quickly developed a One SSO philosophy – that it would be "all for one, one for all". We looked down the barrel of about $12–15 million worth of lost ticket sales, so we took big pay cuts and put in a salary floor for the lowest-paid employees. We are still on pay austerity measures as a group of 160. We've been able to steer the boat all in relatively good spirits. Our audiences have been tremendously supportive, with millions of dollars worth of tickets donated back to the orchestra last year. What drives you to do what you do? I'm really motivated by making a positive contribution. At this point, I've had a 30-year career – I've done anything that anyone in my field would have wanted to do. I've had a chance to be involved in art-making at the highest international levels, so you think about the second half of your career and say, 'I've been very fortunate. What difference am I going to make?' I was in New York on September 11 – 20 years ago this year. I was working in a building near the World Trade Centre, and I saw that second plane go in. You don't go through an experience like that in life without thinking, what's it all for? And how am I going to use my time well? So, the real answer to your question is that we just get one crack at it. Life is no dress rehearsal, so make sure that you use the life you have well. For me, that's about making a difference in the field that I love.

Do you have advice for new graduates? My advice is make the road by walking. A career is a winding path. Mine's gone for 30 years, and it wasn't a straight line. Meet each new opportunity with an open mind and seek to make a positive contribution in each pursuit you have. You have to make your road in life by walking it yourself.